TORONTO — The western Canadian province of Alberta will appeal a court ruling that blocks a potential vote on separation from the country, after a judge found the government failed to meet its obligation to consult with Indigenous peoples.

The decision from the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta on Wednesday is a major setback for the independence movement in Alberta, which holds most of the country’s known oil reserves and exports millions of barrels a day of crude to the U.S. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the province would appeal the ruling, as did the leaders of a pro-independence group known as Stay Free Alberta.

At a press conference, Smith said that although her government supports Alberta staying in Canada, the judgment was “anti-democratic.” She didn’t rule out alternative ways of posing a referendum question when asked, saying she’d consult with her party’s lawmakers.

The independence organizers submitted a petition earlier this month, claiming more than 301,000 signatures in favor of a referendum on the province breaking away from Canada. The judge in the case ruled that the province’s chief electoral officer made an error in law by allowing the separatists’ petition to go forward.

For a citizen-initiated referendum, the province requires about 178,000 verified signatures to advance to the next stage of the process. The separatist group is seeking a vote on a ballot question that would state: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state?”

Indigenous groups filed an application to block that effort. It targeted the provincial government, chief electoral officer and separatist organizer Mitch Sylvestre, who led the Stay Free Alberta petition. It focuses on a provincial law that outlines the process by which groups of citizens can try to force a referendum on key issues through petitions.

The Athabasca Chipewyan, Siksika Nation, Piikani Nation and Blood Tribe argued in court filings that Sylvestre’s petition should never have been allowed. Those First Nations have specific rights because they entered into treaties with the British Crown in the 1800s, before Alberta was made into a Canadian province in 1905.

“A requirement to implement secession without prior involvement of the Applicants has the potential to adversely affect Treaty rights,” Justice Shaina Leonard wrote in her ruling.

Jeffrey Rath, one of the organizers of the separatist movement, said the group will file an appeal. “We disagree fundamentally with the decision which appears on its face to violate principles of natural justice and contain numerous errors of law,” he said in a post on X.

In an interview, he said that regardless of the petition being rejected, the judge’s decision made clear that Smith has the authority to call a referendum herself. “We expect the premier to put the question on the ballot regardless of any judicial decision.”

Smith’s main political rival, Alberta’s New Democratic Party leader Naheed Nenshi, demanded she “call off the referendum and put this to bed.”

He went on: “This petition is dead. This referendum is dead. For the premier to spend taxpayer time and money to resurrect it would prove what we’ve always known: she’s a separatist.”

Longstanding disputes between Alberta and the federal government have coalesced into an independence movement that’s seeking to reap the rewards of the region’s vast natural resources. But surveys suggest separatism lacks broad appeal. A poll last month of 1,200 residents by Alberta-based Janet Brown Opinion Research found support for the separatist cause at 27%, with 67% saying they would vote against it.

Still, separatist groups have been well-organized and preparing for a potential referendum vote in October.

Kevin Hille, a lawyer at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP who represented the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, called the decision “a significant victory for the rule of law and the protection of constitutional rights in Alberta.” He said in an email that secession would “bisect and sever” the First Nation’s territory “with an international border, which would destroy their way of life that they have practiced there for the past seven thousand years.”

Jon McKenzie, chief executive officer of Cenovus Energy Inc., told a Calgary audience before the ruling was issued that the roots of the movement were economic greivances, but that they were solvable issues.

“The way I think about separatism in Alberta is there is a general feeling of disillusionment in Alberta that’s manifested itself over the past decade and it’s real,” he said. “I think the worst thing that we can do is chalk this up to a fringe element of society that shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

____

(With assistance from Robert Tuttle.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.